1. Field of Invention
The instant disclosure generally relates to a water filtration system housing and a water filtration system which utilizes the water filtration housing. More particularly, the instant disclosure relates to a water filtration housing including a pressure-sealed closing assembly, and a water filtration system using the water filtration housing.
2. Description of Related Art
Water filtration is well known, and generally involves processing “raw” water through a filter media to remove solid particulates and/or dissolved components. The term “raw” denotes water that is to be filtered through a particular filter media. It will be appreciated that “raw” water may have been previously filtered or treated using another means or filtering system.
In some applications, water filtration media may be provided in the form of a cartridge, which is retained in a housing. Raw water must pass through the filter cartridge, which traps solids particulates and/or ions thereby rendering “treated” water. Filter cartridges can be made in many configurations, including but not limited to tubular membranes formed of pleated membrane material, containers that retain various forms of filtration media and tubular, spirally wound semi-permeable reverse osmosis membranes.
Regardless of the specific water filtration method used, the housing containing the operational filtration components may need to withstand substantial internal pressures generated during water filtration. The internal pressure may be generated due to a volume of water held within the housing, or as a consequence of the particular filtration method. To withstand the water filtration-generated pressures, housings have may be formed of steel, which is both expensive and heavy, composite glass fiber-reinforced plastics, or high-strength plastics.
Inasmuch as the use of high-strength materials for the housing may provide one solution for handling the substantial internal pressure, certain water filtration applications may present design needs not adequately addressed by material-selection alone. Particularly, certain water filtration applications, such as point of entry, in-home or local water filtration, may require periodic access to an interior of the housing for maintenance, such as to replace a filter cartridge. For these applications, a housing which is capable of both handling the substantial internal pressures associated with water filtration and providing access to an interior of the housing (e.g., to a filter cartridge) is needed.
Furthermore, certain water filtration applications may benefit from using more than one filtration method, with more than one filter media. The different filtration methods may be serially provided such that the raw water passes through each filtration method in sequence. However, assembling a multi-filtration-method water filtration system may require advanced planning and a specialized configuration of the system. The advanced planning and specialized configuration may add cost and introduce inefficiency to the assembly of the multi-filtration-method water filtration system. Additionally, even for single-filtration-method systems, a particular housing associated with the filtration method to be applied may need to be provided. Acquiring, storing, and transporting (e.g., to a job site) various different housings may be inconvenient for filtration system installers, but may be necessary to allow the installers to assemble appropriate filtration systems.